The present invention disclosed herein relates to an apparatus for cleaning substrates, and more particularly, to a method and apparatus for cleaning and drying substrates by applying a plurality of chemicals and gases to the substrates.
In a conventional semiconductor manufacturing method, deposition of an insulation layer and a metal layer, etching, coating with photoresist, development, removal of ashes, and other processes are repeated several times to form arrays of fine patterns. Furthermore, in the conventional semiconductor manufacturing method, a wet cleaning process is performed using deionized water or a chemical to remove foreign substances remaining after each process.
In a conventional cleaning apparatus, a chemical or deionized water is applied to a top surface of a wafer fixed by a wafer chuck while rotating the fixed wafer using a motor. The chemical or deionized water applied to the top surface of the wafer is spread on the entire top surface of the wafer by a centrifugal force.
In such a single wafer type cleaning apparatus, N2 gas is used to dry a wafer after rinsing the wafer using deionized water.
However, the deionized water used in the rinsing process can remain after the N2-gas drying process. This problem occurs more frequently as wafers increase in size and are formed with much finer patterns. Furthermore, since wafers are cleaned and dried in the atmosphere, the wafers can be easily damaged by environmental agents.